Alabama Consumer Law Blog

A couple of weeks ago I was invited by Alabama Live to appear on the morning show to discuss the new changes to credit card laws that went into effect recently. Keep in mind that more changes are coming at the first of the year and then next summer.

If you would like more information about this or if you are dealing with abusive debt collectors or false credit reporting, feel free to contact us.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

Getoutofdebt.org has posted an article and a video that sheds light on the "five myths of bankruptcy" and why they're not necessarily true.

The myths are:

You should be dead broke until you file for bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy ruins your credit score.
You lose your home if you go bankrupt.
You should max out your credit cards before going bankrupt.
You should raid your 401(k) to pay your bills before going bankrupt.

Our firm doesn't handle bankruptcy but feel free to contact us to discuss alternatives, particularly if you are dealing with harassment from debt collectors.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

Several months ago we launched a website - Sued By A Debt Buyer - but we were not happy with the look of it so we have redesigned the look and feel of it and added some videos. Feel free to take a look at it and let us know if this is helpful to you or if we can help you in any way.

There is a companion site - Sued By A Debt Collector - that we trust will also be helpful to you.

If you are dealing with debt collectors calling you then you should check out our site on Illegal Voicemails.

We will continue to add websites that will contain useful information related to specific subjects as we look forward to continuing to try to "level the playing field" between consumers and those who make it their business to abuse and cheat consumers.

Contact us if you have any questions or if we can help you in any way.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

Tim Barnes is a client in Alabama who was sued by LVNV, a famous debt buyer, and he came to see us as he had no idea what the lawsuit was about or why he was being sued. We were able to explain to him many of the items contained in our free report "Five Secrets Debt Buyer Don't Want You To Know About When They Sue".

We hope you enjoy this short (48 second) video and that it is helpful to you.

Let us know if we can help you in any way.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

Here is a nice video summarizing many consumer rights when dealing with collections. While this is from South Carolina, most apply to Alabama consumers (except the discussion of garnishment and right to cure).

If you are dealing with abusive debt collectors, please feel free to contact us through our website, our blog, or by phone at 205-879-2447.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

Almost without exception Alabama consumers who have been sued by debt buyers want to know if they have the right to appeal if they lose their case or if the debt buyer has the right to appeal if it can't prove its case and loses.

The answer is any party can appeal. We discuss the right to appeal in this video:

If we can help you, please contact us through our website, or call us at 205-879-2447, or fill out the form below for our free report on the Five Secrets Debt Buyers Don't Want You To Know About When They Sue You.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The final step in dealing with abusive debt collectors who contact third parties in violation of the law is to contact us or other experienced consumer attorneys to determine if it is appropriate to file suit to make these collectors stop. We will discuss more about filing Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) cases in future posts and videos but for now we will discuss contacting a consumer attorney:

If you are dealing with this type of abusive collection agency, request our free report on making these abusive types of collectors pay for breaking the rules. You can call us at 205-879-2447, contact us through our website, or fill out the form below to request the free report.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

We have previously discussed who is a "third party," why collectors call third parties and some examples of illegal third party contacts by abusive collection agencies. Now we want to remind you to get a statement from the third party who was illegally contacted by the debt collector.

This is important as it helps the third party remember the illegal call and it helps for you to document exactly what was said to the third party by this collector.

Here is a video that discusses obtaining a statement from the third party:

If you are dealing with this type of abusive collection agency, request our free report on making these abusive types of collectors pay for breaking the rules. You can call us at 205-879-2447, contact us through our website, or fill out the form below to request the free report.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The problem of abusive collectors calling neighbors, co-workers, friends, or family members is not declining but instead is growing. This is the best way to force a consumer to call the collector back - embarass and shame them by calling third parties illegally.

We have been asked what are some examples of this type of illegal conduct so we made this short video:

If you are dealing with this type of abusive collection agency, request our free report on making these abusive types of collectors pay for breaking the rules. You can call us at 205-879-2447, contact us through our website, or fill out the form below to request the free report.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

In this video I discuss what happens on the day of trial in a debt buyer lawsuit in Jefferson County, Alabama (Birmingham), in District or Small Claims court:

This video does not discuss the actual trial but instead the "calling of the docket" and what happens before the trial. We'll have a follow up video that discusses what actually happens during trial.

If you would like our free report on debt buyer secrets that exposes what debt buyers don't want you to know when they sue you, call me at 205-879-2447, contact us through our website, or fill out the form below:

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

In this video we discuss the fatal flaw of almost every debt buyer lawsuit that we have seen - the debt buyer can't or won't prove it owns the debt. We wrote about this two years ago and, if anything, the problem has increased with debt buyers hardly making an attempt to prove ownership. (Or if they do they seem to ignore or not understand basic rules of evidence).

In this video we address this issue:

If you would like more information, and in particular our free report on the Five Secrets Debt Buyer's Don't Want You To Know About, contact us at 205-879-2447, through our website, or by filling out the form below. We wish you the best!

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

In this video you can see and hear one of our clients talk about his experience in being sued by a debt buyer in Jefferson County, Alabama (Birmingham). This video was made right after his trial which he won in the District Court of Jefferson County.

We have discussed the large numbers of cases being filed by debt buyers and the biggest advantage they have over consumers is most consumers don't have good solid information about their rights. To help with this, we have our free report which any consumer being sued by a debt buyer should review as soon as possible as you don't want a default judgment to be entered against you as we discuss in this video below:

To request our free report to help educate yourself on debt buyer lawsuits, call us at 205-879-2447, contact us through our website, or fill out the form below. We wish you the best of success.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

This is a question that Alabama consumers often ask us as debt collectors more often than ever before are calling our cell phones. We have previously blogged about this practice of collectors calling cell phones (and we have an article on cell phone calls on our website).

Here is a video we recently made as we know many people prefer to watch a video than read an article (that's why we all love youtube, right?):

If you have any questions, or would like our free report on How To Make Debt Collectors Pay For Illegal Voicemails, please contact us in one of the following ways:

1. Call us at 205-879-2447 and let us know you want the free report or you have questions; or
2. Contact us through the blog - the form is to the left of this post; or
3. Contact us through our website; or
4. Go to our website Illegal Voicemails which is devoted to stopping illegal voicemails from debt collectors

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

In our last video blog post we discussed that the biggest danger facing Alabama consumers who have been sued is not answering the collection lawsuit filed by a debt buyer. Since we have hopefully convinced you to answer - the question is "How long or how much time do I have to answer?"

In circuit court in Alabama you have 30 days from when you were served. In district or small claims court you have 14 days to answer the collection suit.

Make sure you answer on time! If you would like some guidance, call us at 205-879-2447 or contact us through our website or through this blog or fill out the form below and we will send you our free report on "The Five Secrets Debt Buyers Don't Want You To Know About".

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

We recently made a video discussing the biggest danger that consumers face when they are sued in Alabama by a collector or debt buyer - not answering the lawsuit! We are amazed at how often this happens.

Consumers who don't answer the lawsuit face a default judgment which means the collector or debt buyer wins.

But if you answer the lawsuit then you have given yourself a chance to be successful. We discuss these types of issues in more detail in our free report on Debt Buyer Secrets that you can request through our website or by calling us at 205-879-2447 or by filling out the form below the video. We wish you the best!

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

With the economic slowdown, we are seeing more and more abusive debt collectors calling co-workers, neighbors, family members, and others in order to collect debts. These bill collectors know this is illegal but they do it for one simple reason:

It Works!

If you would like to read our free report on Making Collectors Pay For Contacting Third Parties either call us at 205-879-2447 or fill out our contact sheet on our website or on this blog or fill out the report form below and we will send it to you by email or mail - whichever you prefer.

Nothing is quite as effective as applying pressure to an innocent third party. Some favorite targets of collection agencies that willingly break the law:

1. Neighbors ("block parties");
2. Co-workers ("office parties");
3. Family members;
4. Preachers/ministers/pastors;
5. Ex-spouses, inlaws, etc; and
6. Anyone else that the collector knows will let you know that the collector has called.

We recorded a short video on this subject that you are welcome to watch. Be sure and get our free report on how to make collectors pay for illegal third party contacts - this lays out step by step what you should do.

Fill out this form for the free report!

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The explosion in lawsuits filed against Alabama consumers in Jefferson County, Shelby County, and really all counties in the state continues. So many debt buyer lawsuits are filed that the courts are struggling to handle the burden of the cases. The first question that you are likely to ask yourself when you are sued by a debt buyer is "What is a debt buyer?" Or "I never did business with Midland, Unifund, Asset Acceptance, etc - who are they?"

In this short video I want to give you a little bit of insight into debt buyers and we will continue with a number of videos walking you through some information about debt buyer lawsuits.

We hope this video is helpful to you and we look forward to helping you any way we can. After the video you can fill out a form for a free report on "The Five Secrets Debt Buyers Don't Want You To Know About When They Sue You" as knowing these secrets can help you in your case.

Contact us at 205-879-2447 or through our website which discusses debt buyer lawsuits or you can fill out the form below to get our free report on debt buyer lawsuits.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

As we have discussed before, abusive debt collectors love to contact third parties to intimidate you into paying a debt. When they do this, they should be sued under federal law (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) and state law (invasion of privacy, etc).

We are often asked "What" or "Who" is a third party? We shot this quick video to answer this question. We will be adding more videos that we hope will be helpful to you. Always feel free to contact us to discuss your situation or to request our free report on Debt Collectors Contacting Neighbors And Co-Workers. You can feel out the form below or fill out the form on our website or you can call us at 205-879-2447.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

Our friends at Dean Malone's lawfirm in Texas took this deposition of an employee at the well known IC Systems regarding the number complaints that IC Systems receives per year and what changes in policies occur.

We hope you'll find this interesting, particularly if you are dealing with IC Systems as many Alabama consumers are....

If you have any questions about IC Systems or any other debt collector, please feel free to contact us.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

I met Gerry Oginski this weekend at a legal conference and enjoyed talking with him. We discussed his wonderful collection of informative videos. Normally, his videos apply more to our personal injury and wrongful death practice but this one applies across the board and certainly applies to you when you are looking at choosing a consumer attorney to sue an abusive debt collector or to sue the credit reporting agencies for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Look to see whether the lawyer gives you detailed information or forces you to go into his or her office to get the information. Will the attorney mail you useful information? Is useful information provided on the website or blog? Or does the attorney website sound just like any other lawyer who has recited the violations of the FDCPA or FCRA?

You can view the video here:

If you have any questions for us or would like to receive more detailed information, please let us know.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below: